2006-09-22 06:25:31 · 5 answers · asked by Justin C 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Most of the symptoms that are annoying to you are caused by your own immune system to help your own immune system.
White blood cells become more active at higher temperatures, for example, so fevers help your own system work better. There's a good reason they're not always in high gear - without anything around to act against, sometimes they go overboard and start attacking you!
Swelling is another good example of this. While there are external factors that cause swelling, sometimes your immune system causes it to allow white cells to move more freely among your tissues instead of being contrained to arteries, veins, and capillaries. Thus they can get where they're going faster and congregate better, even if it is uncomfortable for you.
Obviously, from an evolutionary standpoint, these are beneficial things to have overall. It's better to cause short term inconvenience than die!
2006-09-22 06:32:50 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only thing I can think of at the moment that would effect evolutionary medicine and be associated with a moderate fever is a virus. Viruses have a huge impact on genes and evolution.
2006-09-22 13:29:20 · answer #2 · answered by escapingmars 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Elevated body temperature generally makes the body better able to fight the organism and/or creates an environment in which the organism is less able to survive.
Of course, if the organism happens to survive better in warmer temps, fever would be couterproductive. In that case, an individual whose body malfunctions and *doesn't* produce a fever would be better suited to survival against this organism, and so its fitness might be passed on to its offspring who would then also be better able to fight that particular organism.
Do keep in mind that evolutionary medicine isn't a separate field. Medicine shows us how evolution works - our bodies fight viruses, medicines affect our bodies, all in accordance with millions of years of biological trial and error which is all together called "evolution." Modern medicine proves that evolution is how we are changing at every moment of every day!
2006-09-22 13:28:54 · answer #3 · answered by Trips 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is evolutionary medicine? I assume you are being a smart aleck.
2006-09-22 13:34:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
playing chicken with the flu is fun...except that its not cause you're always cold and clammy even though your warm and miserable...all at the same time
2006-09-22 14:07:06 · answer #5 · answered by Franklin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋